In the room where it happens: Science and policy

Abstract

As scientists, we need to become just as comfortable engaging our elected officials in policy discussions as we are at home in our own laboratory and office comfort zones. Science and policy are most effective when they work in concert and allow the knowledge of each area to inform the other. An immediate challenge to this science-informing-policy idea is that as scientists, we are fundamentally trained to be impartial. I teach my undergraduate students to write their lab reports in the third person just as manuscripts are written because the data should be the same regardless of who collects and interprets them. Our scientific integrity and respect from society rely on making every attempt to conduct unbiased work and to avoid prejudicing results in one way or another based on our personal preferences for an outcome. On first examination, science advocacy—which specifically seeks to inform an outcome—contradicts the fundamental principles